Rivermead Leisure Centre is part of a £40m reinvestment of sport and leisure centres in Reading. It includes a 120-station gym, group cycle studio, 6-court sports hall, café, soft play, 3 party rooms, and a full size all weather pitch. In 2024 there will also be an 8-lane swimming pool and a teaching pool.
As it is brand new, the Rivermead Leisure Centre soft play in Reading, is very clean and modern. Glass windows surround the room flooding it with natural light, making it easier to find your child! It is designed for children from 1-10years old.
There is a large café just outside the soft play area offering hot and cold food and drinks as well as snacks, with a good amount of seats and tables.
The centre is very spacious and airy and clean. There are also seats and tables inside the soft play area, so little ones can have a snack and parents can have a coffee whilst they watch.
The soft play is a multilevel frame with different climbing sections and hidey-holes. There are 4 levels with different routes to traverse up and different areas to explore. It includes rope bridges, net walks, different shaped tunnels, spinning poles, and different slides. There is a four seater wavy slide, a tunnel slide that finishes in a ball pit, and a smaller slide in the baby section. The structure is all padded and very safe.
The soft play frame includes sensory elements like colourful liquid floor tiles, and a porthole type set up on the floor with a screen showing different sea creatures. My son stared at this for ages, watching the different creatures appear and trying to catch them.
The top levels of the frame are space themed with solar charts and planets displayed. At the very top level of the frame there is a ball area with astronauts and planets as holes to throw the ball through.
There is a baby section at the bottom of the frame. It has smaller soft play equipment, balance beams, wobble bobo dolls, and sensory equipment. There is a small slide in there too, which finishes into a ball pit. Although not a baby any more my 3-year-old son loved going down this and crashing into the balls at the bottom!
The soft play is open 7 days a week 9am-6pm. The sessions run for one hour, you are given a wristband with your time slot on it. Sessions are bookable online. Under 2 year olds cost £3.75, over 2’s are £7.50. 1 adult is included per child ticket. An additional Adult is £5. (July 2023)
The centre is very spacious and airy and clean. I think this is going to be a very popular soft play option; they also have party rooms coming off of the main soft play area, perfect for birthdays!
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